IRS Discontinues Lost Participant Letter Forwarding Program  

By Marcia Wagner 

The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2012-35, which announced that plan sponsors and administrators can no longer use the IRS's letter forwarding service to locate missing plan participants or beneficiaries who are entitled to a benefit. In the past, if a plan sponsor or administrator provided the IRS with a missing participant's social security number, the IRS would attempt to forward a letter to the individual about his or her benefit.

Plan sponsors frequently used the IRS's letter forwarding service to locate missing participants and beneficiaries who were owed benefits. Under the Department of Labor's Field Assistance Bulletin 2004-02 ("FAB 2004-02"), plan fiduciaries were advised to make reasonable efforts to locate missing plan participants and beneficiaries as part of exercising their obligations as fiduciaries. FAB 2004-02 indicated that one of the methods by which plan fiduciaries could demonstrate reasonable efforts was to use the IRS letter forwarding program.

 In case you hadn't noticed, the holiday season is over. Thankfully, you won't be subjected to the continual playing of "The Santa Clause," Starbucks baristas wearing Santa hats or blow-up snowmen in your neighbors' yards - at least for another 345 days or so.  

Don't get me wrong. I love the holidays. In fact, I spent two full days baking cookies, breads and treats for my family and neighbors - all while Bing Crosby serenaded me in the background. Unfortunately my Newfie ate three of my mini-loaves of lemon bread. That was heartbreak, and a whole other story.

LinkedIn

By DJ Ware

Purpose/Usefulness:

LinkedIn is the World's Largest Professional Network with over 200 million+ active members in their community. Social networking is rapidly becoming the new standard and you should make your LinkedIn profile your #1 priority this year. Think of it as Facebook with online resumes; you can interact with the community while seeking out professionals that fit your needs. Quite honestly, if you don't have a LinkedIn profile by now, you're already miles behind the competition.

Easier, Faster, Cheaper, Bigger:

LinkedIn is incredibly efficient for connecting with professionals from just about every industry. With deep search and filtering features, LinkedIn offers an easy navigation system so you can find people/professionals that fit your requirements. You can network with thousands upon thousands of professionals in your industry and even build a fan base. You can list job opportunities, start a forum, and even create detailed business pages. You and your business have never had an easier way of creating an online presence than with LinkedIn.